The present invention is a device for binding multiple cardboard sheets, such as flattened boxes, into a bale for disposal or recycling. The device is compact, inexpensive, and imposes practically no limitations on the size of the cardboard sheets that make up the bale. The device performs optimally even when the size of the material being baled varies widely within the same bale.
Significant aspects and features of the present invention include a binding method whereby cord passes through the body of each cardboard sheet of the bale and, therefore, through the bale. An anchoring element is fastened to each end of the cord retaining the material on the cord between the anchoring elements. The binding method represents a departure from prior art methods in which at least a portion of the cord wraps around the perimeter of the bale.
Another significant aspect and feature of the present invention is a baler comprising multiple, removable parts, which are quickly and easily assembled and disassembled by hand into various configurations before, during, and after construction of the bale. Changeability of the state of assembly allows the device to be optimally configured at each step of the baling process.